How To Make Self Rising Flour

Easy2 minsQuick

I’ve always said that I like a good balance of cooking and baking in my life. But man oh man, somehow I have gotten on a mega baking kick lately. And since I tend to prefer savory to sweet, the object of my affection as of late has been this epic 3-ingredient biscuit recipe that has pretty much changed my life. Ok, at least it has changed my breakfast. I have already made it 3 times since and counting!

That recipe is coming on the blog tomorrow. But for today, I thought I would post a quick tutorial for how to make one of the three ingredients homemade — self-rising flour!

It’s fairly rare that I have a bag of self-rising flour sitting in my pantry, partly because it doesn’t stay fresh as long with that baking powder mixed in. But mostly because it is so darn easy to make homemade! I’m not kidding. All you need are three easy ingredients — all-purpose (or pastry) flour, salt and baking powder — and you have an easy substitution ready for any recipe that calls for self-rising flour to help those biscuits, pancakes, cakes and more fluff up.

So bookmark this recipe if you ever need it for the future. (Hint hint — tomorrow!)

One quick note about the actual flour base in all-purpose flours. I have always used just traditional all-purpose flour in the substitution. But some brands (i.e. White Lily, King Arthur Flour and others) use cake or pastry flour in place of all-purpose, because it is low-protein. I’ve never found that it makes a huge difference. But if a recipe specifically calls for one of those, you might want to use cake or pastry flour instead.

69 comments on “How To Make Self Rising Flour”

It’s great to be able to substitute in a pinch, but I will say there is no true substitute for White Lily flour in biscuits (something I didn’t learn until I moved to the South). The flour is made with a very specific kind of wheat, soft winter wheat, which makes the flour lower in protein/gluten and much lighter in texture than AP. I never thought there’d be much of a difference until I tasted biscuits side by side with and without it! I know it’s hard to find though outside of the South, so not even an option for many.

Yep. Unfortunately our stores don’t carry White Lily here (or if they do, I haven’t ever been able to track it down). When trying to make a substitution to use in a recipe that calls for that specific brand, I usually use pastry flour instead of all-purpose, which is a little bit closer to White Lily.

This recipe has been such a lifesaver so many times! I agree with Lindsay – White Lily flour is a game changer. I buy it on Amazon because I found out after doubting for so long what a difference it makes!
Love your graphic!

Wowoowoowowowo! you are my angel!! I always wonder what is in the self-raising flour. Whichever recipe calls for self-raising flour, I need to rush to store and buy that in order to make it. But more frustrating is the rest of the flour will sit there and forgotten…eventually to the garbage…. my dollars as well!
Love your “formula” no more buying from the shore. You save my cents and dollars. Thanks.

I made these biscuit and they turned out really well. My whole family liked them. I did use the self rising flour. I am a bit of a health person would have preferred to use a different one but once in awhile wont hurt. I like the fact that they only have 3 incredients. I will make these again. I did take a picture , not sure how to send. Thanks allie

This little trick making your own self rising flour now goes into my books. I’ve used it twice and love the result. Let’s just say I now can make it in batches. Used it to make biscuits they rose nicely.

Just making sure if 1.5 tsp. baking powder is 1/2 instead of 1 1/2. The picture of the baking powder and the salt is not the same measurement-wise. The salt teaspoon is smaller. So which one is correct? Both salt and baking powder is 1/2 tsp. or 1/2 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp baking powder? Thank you.

Hi Fina! We’re sorry for the confusion on this. The recipe is correct for the self-rising flour (so it is 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt). We will re-edit this with easier-to-read fractions though. (We recently figured out that if we type a fraction like 1/2 into Google Docs, and then copy it to WordPress, it’ll show up as an actual fraction instead of the slash thing, hence the confusion.)

Hudson Cream Flour is a great flour! I had all purpose but was out of self rising. Used your recipe and it turned out great!
Thank you so much! My baking powder was out of date.
P
Pamamte and it still worked.
Pa

I’m confused. My recipe ( rusks) calls for 1,5kg of self raising flour. I’ve always thought that 4 cups (250mls) are equal to 1kg. I measured my cups for the recipe into a Tupperware container and was horrified at the difference in quantity. Do I now measure the amount of cups and add the baking powder and salt ?? Or is there a standard mixture I can use for 1kg of flour

Hi Patricia! The measurements in this recipe worked for us, but if you have a recipe for self-rising flour that you already enjoy and you’re worried about the differences between the two, you might want to stick with the one you know.

Hey, I’m Ali!

My favorite thing in the world is spending time around the table with good people and good food. So I created this blog full of simple, speedy, and irresistibly delicious recipes that are perfect for sharing with those you love. ♥ more about me »